3GSM: GSMA touts video sharing tests

BARCELONA, SPAIN--The GSM Association (GSMA), in an initiative led by Scandinavian mobile operator TeliaSonera, has begun interoperability trials on three continents to ensure that mobile users will be able to share video across networks. Successful completion of the trials, taking place in Europe, Asia and the U.S., will ensure that video sharing services work smoothly across networks and national boundaries, the GSMA said at the 3GSM World Congress here.

The GSMA has brought together major equipment and handset-makers, including Ericsson, LG, Lucent, Motorola, Nokia, NEC, Samsung, Siemens and Sony-Ericsson, for the trials to ensure that this service will work across as many mobile devices as possible. Intel Corp. and other firms also are participating in the trials.

Alex Sinclair, chief technical officer of the GSMA, said in a statement that the trials will be completed in the first half of this year.

Video sharing would allow one of the participants in a voice call to send live video of what they are looking at to the other participant. It would be based on Session Initiation Protocol operated over an IP multimedia subsystem architecture.

"We saw how interoperability contributed to the text messaging boom in the United States and expect it will do the same for video services," said Kris Rinne, chief technology officer for Cingular Wireless, in the GSMA statement.